Royal City Roller Girls girls seek place to play

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Greg Layson, Guelph Mercury

Some members of the Royal City Roller Girls waiting for a place to play due to a facility shortage in Guelph are, from left, Tania Gallant, Angela Furber-Thompson, Marilyn Aston and Gerri-Lee Humphries.

“We just want a place to play,” Kirstie McKinlay lamented Sunday at the West End Rec Centre, where since April the club has been skating.

But the West End Rec Centre will be off limits come September once the city lays ice in the twin-pad arena complex. And there just isn’t any space available elsewhere.

“It’s all for the boys,” Humphries said, suggesting the city caters to hockey at both the children’s and men’s league levels.

“I know hockey is important to the city,” McKinlay said. “But we can’t get in anywhere.”

Last year, the city cut a south end recreational centre from the city’s budget and five-year, despite the City of Guelph’s Recreation, Parks and Culture Strategic Master Plan warning “ice needs over the next 10 years are projected to equate to nearly one ice pad.”

However, the master plan goes on to read “a single pad arena is not recommended due to operational cost inefficiencies and user expectations for a multi-pad facility.”

Last year, Rob MacKay, the city’s manager of recreation and culture, estimated a new single-pad rink could cost upwards of $7 million.

Still, McKinlay and other members of the derby club who live on the south end say something is needed in their neck of the woods.

“Just in my neighbourhood alone there are a lot of kids,” McKinlay said. “And most of the time, you have to drive out of the neighbourhood or out of town just to entertain them.”

The club has also looked at renting warehouse space but said the private sector is too expensive. Neither local school board has gymnasium space available — if they do, they’re not saying so.

“I think they think we’re a bunch of crazy, tattooed chicks who are going to ruin their floors with our wheels,” Humphries said.

That won’t happen said Humphries and McKinlay. The club has also been practicing in of Norfolk United Church’s gymnasium and hasn’t left a mark on the floor, McKinlay said.

“Norfolk Church has been very, very gracious. We can’t thank them enough,” McKinlay said.